Joining system

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a joining system comprising a locking device ( 1 ) and a first element ( 2 ) and a second element ( 3 ) to be joined by the locking device ( 1 ). The locking device ( 1 ) comprises a first end section ( 4 ), a centre section ( 5 ), and a second end section ( 6 ). The first and second end sections ( 4, 6 ) extend in opposite directions from the centre section ( 5 ), and at least one surface ( 7 ) of each of the first and second end sections ( 4, 6 ) are provided with at least one barb ( 8 ). The barb ( 8 ) is angled in a direction towards the centre section ( 5 ). The first and second elements ( 2, 3 ) are each provided with a groove ( 9 ). The locking device ( 1 ) is completely enclosed by the grooves ( 9 ) when the first and second elements ( 2, 3 ) are joined by the locking device ( 1 ).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a joining system comprising a lockingdevice and a first element and a second element to be joined by thelocking device. The locking device comprises a first end section, acentre section, and a second end section. The first and second endsections extend in opposite directions from the centre section. At leastone surface of each of the first and second end sections are providedwith at least one barb, angled in a direction towards the centresection.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is well known in the art to join elements such as floor boards toeach other when laying a floor. One common solution is to design thesides of the floor boards such that one short side and one long side ofeach floor board is provided with a groove and one short side and onelong side of each floor board is provided with a corresponding tongue.When mounting the floor, each tongue of a floor board is fitted into acorresponding groove of another floor board.

The use of such asymmetrically designed floor boards leads torestrictions as regards which floor patterns can be laid, since eachtongue needs to fit into a corresponding groove. Further, the groove andtongue configuration does not provide a lock between floor boards.Hence, some kind of additional fastening means such as glue has to beused when laying the floor. The use of additional fastening means istime consuming, and in the case of glue, messy and prevents the floorboards from being easily separated from each other and used again. Also,the groove and tongue configuration makes the actual surface of thefloor boards wider than the surface which eventually is intended to walkupon, i.e. the tongues stick out from the sides of the boards. Thesetongues do not only take up extra space during storage and transport,but also leads to a need for sturdy packaging in order to avoid damagingthe fragile tongues during handling of the floor board packages.

Document WO 2008/148198 discloses a fastener having two end portionseach to be fitted into grooves in boards used for decking. The fasteneris provided with barbs and the grooves are provided with recesses, suchthat the fastener can lock two adjacent boards to each other. The centresection of the fastener maintains a predetermined spacing between theboards, as is conventional for decking. Additional fastening means areused for attaching the boards to the foundation, by screwing a screwthrough a hole in the fastener and into the foundation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to mitigate the above problems,and to provide a joining system which facilitates not only laying allkinds of floor patterns but also reuse of the floor boards/first andsecond elements.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, these objects areachieved by a joining system comprising a locking device and a firstelement and a second element to be joined by the locking device, thelocking device comprising a first end section, a centre section, and asecond end section, the first and second end sections extending inopposite directions from the centre section, at least one surface ofeach of the first and second end sections being provided with at leastone barb, the barb being angled in a direction towards the centresection, the first and second elements each being provided with agroove, the locking device being completely enclosed by the grooves whenthe first and second elements are joined by the locking device.

The use of such a joining system facilitates easy, reliable, andinvisible joining of elements such as floor boards. The floor boards canbe laid in abutment to each other, which is normal procedure when layingfloors (as opposed to when laying decking). Also, the joining systemprovides an exact and accurate assembly of the floor boards as seen in adirection perpendicular to the upper surface of the floor boards, i.e.the surface intended for standing on when the floor has been laid. Thisis essential when laying indoor floors since any difference in heightbetween the individual floor boards is unacceptable. Further, there isno need for providing any of the floor boards with protrusions forengagement, such as e.g. a tongue, which not only makes the floor boardsunnecessarily wide but also unnecessarily fragile. The groove maycomprise at least one surface provided with at least one angled recessadapted for locking engagement with the barbs. Such angled recesses arenecessary when the joining system is used in harder materials where thebarbs themselves are not sufficiently strong in order to form a lockingengagement with the elements.

In one embodiment, the locking device substantially has a shape of aright parallelepiped, which is an easy shape to manufacture.

The groove may be contained within a separate strip provided in a slotin the element. This embodiment facilitates using the joining systemalso for elements which are made of materials which are not sufficientlystrong or durable to engage with the locking device directly.

In one embodiment, the strip is made of plastic, metal, wood, or woodbased material.

Further, the centre section may comprise a protrusion which extends in adirection perpendicular to the surface. Such a protrusion facilitatesthe steering of the locking device such that it automatically is placedin the correct position in relation to the surrounding elements.

The protrusion may be shaped as a ridge, the ridge comprising twostraight surface portions extending at an angle away from the surface ofthe centre section and towards each other such that they have a commonpeak at the very centre of the locking device. Such a shape isespecially well-suited for such steering of the placement of the lockingdevice.

In one embodiment, a plurality of locking devices is arranged spacedapart from one another along a ribbon. This facilitates simple insertionof the locking devices into the groove of the element at a correctdistance from each other.

The first and second elements may be floor boards.

In one embodiment, the groove is provided along a peripheral edge of thefloor boards.

In a further embodiment, the slot is provided along a peripheral edge ofthe floor boards.

The configuration of the peripheral edges may be substantially the samefor the floor boards, which facilitates laying any kind of desiredpattern of floor boards since any edge of each floor board may be joinedto any other edge of the adjacent floor boards. This is especially anadvantage when using laminate floor boards, since the floor boards maybe rotated 180° during laying such that the upper surface, i.e. the sidehaving a pre-printed laminate pattern, of the floor board still isdirected upwards but the pre-printed laminate pattern is rotated inrelation to the initial position of the floor boards. This makes thelaminated surface pattern twice as large as usual, i.e. the pre-printedpattern need be repeated on the same floor only half as many times asusual.

The groove and/or slot may be provided along all peripheral edges of thefloor boards.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, these objects areachieved by a method of joining a first and a second element using alocking device, comprising the steps of fitting a first end section ofthe locking device into a groove in the first element, and fitting asecond end section of the locking device into a groove in the secondelement, where after the locking device is in locking engagement withthe grooves such that the first and second elements are completelyenclosed by the grooves.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, these objects areachieved by a floor comprising such a joining system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

This and other aspects of the present invention will now be described inmore detail, with reference to the appended drawings showing a currentlypreferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a locking device according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of first and second elements accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a side view of an embodiment of the joining systemaccording to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows a joining system comprising a locking device 1 and firstand second elements 2, 3 to be joined by the locking device 1.

The locking device 1 has a first end section 4, a centre section 5, anda second end section 6, where the first and second end sections 4, 6extend in opposite directions from the centre section 5. In a preferredembodiment, the locking device 1 has substantially the shape of a rightparallelepiped. I.e., the locking device 1 is shaped as a right-angledblock having six sides. Two first opposing sides have a mutuallyidentical shape while the adjacent two, second opposing sides also havea mutually identical shape. The shape of the second opposing sides couldbe identical to that of the first opposing sides. However, it could alsobe different in terms of dimensions. The remaining two third opposingsides of the block can also be described as the short ends of the block.The block preferably has an elongated shape.

However, the shape of the locking device 1 need not be that of a rightparallelepiped. The locking device 1 could e.g. be tapered in thedirection towards each short side such that the centre section 5 of thelocking device is thicker than its short ends, i.e. the far end of eachend section 4, 6, in a direction which is perpendicular to the abovementioned first opposing sides.

Further, the locking device could, as mentioned above, be tapered in thedirection towards each short side, but in a direction which isperpendicular to the third opposing sides.

First, second, and third opposing sides are explained in more detailbelow, with reference to a floor board.

The locking device could also be substantially cylindrical, circular,cubical, or have any other shape which is found to be suitable.

The first and second elements 2, 3 are preferably floor boards, butcould nevertheless be any other kind of objects such as parts forfurniture, hanging systems, or any other objects which need to besecurely and easily joined to each other. For the sake of simplicity,the first and second elements 2, 3 are defined as floor boards in theembodiments below.

In the embodiment where the first and second elements 2, 3 are floorboards, this means that the first opposing sides of the block areparallel with the upper surface of the floor boards, i.e. the surfaceintended for standing on when the floor has been laid. Hence, the secondand third opposing sides are perpendicular to both each other and thefirst opposing sides. This assumption is true for the embodimentsdescribed below.

One example of a floor board configuration is a conventional threelayered board, but could however also be a two layered board, a solidsingle layer board, or any other suitably configured type of board. Thefloor board 2, 3 is preferably a wooden floor board.

The floor boards 2, 3 are substantially identically configured, i.e. notonly their general appearance, such as being e.g. rectangular, square,or triangular in shape, but also the peripheral edges are substantiallyidentical for all floor boards. However, the system can be used not onlyfor all edges 15 of a floor board, such that the board has identicalperipheral edges 15, but also for just one edge 15 of a floor boardwhile the remaining edges of the floor board have a differentconfiguration.

The locking device 1 is provided with at least one barb 8 on at leastone side (i.e. surface) 7 of the first and second end sections 4, 6.Preferably, both above mentioned first opposing sides of the first endsection are each provided with a number of barbs 8. Preferably, thesecond end section 6 has the same configuration of barbs 8 as thatdescribed for the first end section 4, only reverse as regards thedirection of the barbs 8 as described further below. However, the secondend section 6 could also have a configuration completely different fromthat of the first end section 4.

The barbs 8 are preferably angled in a direction towards the centresection 5 of the locking device 1, i.e. the barbs 8 on the first endsection 4 are angled in a direction towards the centre section 5 and thesecond end section 6, and the reverse. The barbs 8 together form asaw-toothed shape, when seen from the side of the locking device 1, i.e.from a direction perpendicular to the above mentioned second opposingsides of the block.

The first and second elements, i.e. the floor boards 2, 3, are eachprovided with a groove 9. The groove 9 itself may, when the groove 9 isprovided in a softer material such as chipboard, have smooth surfaces.The barbs 8 of the locking device 1 dig into the softer chipboardmaterial, hence causing a locking engagement with the chipboard.

However, the groove 9 may also, as shown in FIG. 2, comprise at leastone surface 10 provided with at least one angled recess 14 adapted forlocking engagement with the barbs 8 on at least one side of the firstopposing sides of the locking device 1. I.e., the surface is in abutmentwith, and in the same plane as, the first opposing sides of thecorresponding end section when the floor boards 2, 3 are joined by thelocking device 1. In order to achieve the locking engagement, the barbs8 on the locking device 1 are angled as mentioned above, i.e. in thedirection towards the centre section 5 of the locking device 1 andagainst the insertion direction for the locking device 1 into the groove9. Hence, the recesses 14 in the grooves 9 of the floor boards 2, 3 areangled in a corresponding way, i.e. in a direction towards the bottom,most inner part of the groove 9 and along the insertion direction forthe locking device 1 into the groove 9.

Further, when the floor boards 2, 3 are joined by the locking device 1the locking device 1 is completely enclosed by the grooves 9, as shownin FIG. 3. I.e., the sides of each groove 9 are in abutment with thecorresponding sides of the first or second end sections 4, 6,respectively, i.e. the two first opposing sides of the block and one ofthe third opposing sides.

The groove 9 in the floor boards may be provided with the recesses 14directly on the surfaces of the groove 9, i.e. by being incorporatedinto the components of the floor board 2, 3. However, the groove 9 mayalso be contained within a separate strip 11 provided in a slot 12 inthe floor board 2, 3. In this case, “slot” refers to a milled out partof the floor board 2, 3 into which the strip 11 is fitted, while“groove” refers to a milled out part in the strip 11 itself, the groove9 still comprising the above discussed recesses 14 in the same way asdiscussed above.

The groove 9 and/or slot 12 may be provided by milling of e.g. the edge15 of the floor board 2, 3, or by assembling the components of the floorboard 2 ,3 such that the groove/slot 9, 12 is achieved during theassembly process, i.e. the pressing, of the floor board. The groove 9and/or slot 12 may be provided along one or more, including all,peripheral edges 15 of the floor boards 2, 3.

The locking device 1 and the strip 11, comprising the above mentionedgroove 9, is preferably made of plastic, metal, wood, or wood basedmaterial such as plywood or fibres.

The strip 11 has an inner shape which corresponds to that of the lockingdevice 1. When the locking device 1 is shaped as a right parallelepiped,the inside of the slot is preferably U-shaped. However, if the lockingdevice 1 is tapered, the inside of the strip 11 should have acorresponding V-shape, and if the locking device 1 is cylindrical, theinside of the strip 11 needs to be cylindrical as well.

The outer shape of the strip 11 corresponds to that of the slot 12.Usually, the slot 12 is U-shaped, which hence should be the case for theouter shape of the strip 11 as well. The strip 11 is arranged within theslot 12 in the floor board 2, 3 such that the outer sides of the strip11 are in abutment with the corresponding U-shaped sides of the slot. 12The strip 11 may be fitted into the slot 12 during manufacture of thefloor board 2, 3 itself, i.e. when pressing the floor board 2, 3.However, the strip 11 could also be inserted into a slot 12 which hasbeen milled into the edge 15 of a finished floor board 2, 3, asmentioned above. The strip 11 is preferably glued to the floor board 2,3, regardless of the fitting method.

As shown in FIG. 3, the centre section 5 of the locking device may beprovided with a protrusion 13 which extends in a direction perpendicularto the surface 7 of the first and second end sections 4, 6. Moreexactly, in a direction perpendicular to the above mentioned firstopposing sides of the block. In the embodiment where the first andsecond elements 2, 3 are floor boards, this means in a directionperpendicular to the upper surface of the floor boards, i.e. the surfaceintended for standing on when the floor has been laid.

The protrusion 13 is preferably shaped as a ridge. The ridge 13comprises two straight surface portions extending at an angle away fromthe surface of the centre section 5 and towards each other such thatthey have a common peak at the very centre of the locking device 1, thecentre being the centre of the locking device 1 in any direction. Theprotrusion 13 has a triangular shape, when seen from side of the lockingdevice 1, i.e. from a direction perpendicular to the above mentionedsecond opposing sides of the block.

The joining system may comprise a number of locking devices 1 arrangedspaced apart from one another along a ribbon, such that a number oflocking devices 1 can be easily inserted into the groove 9 of the floorboards at a correct distance from each other.

The joining system may also be a part of an underfloor heating system.In this case, each locking device 1 is made of a conductive material andis connected to the heating system.

The joining system is used by fitting a first end section 4 of thelocking device 1 into a groove 9 in the first element 2 and fitting asecond end section 6 of the locking device 1 into a groove 9 in thesecond element 3. Hence, the locking device 1 is in locking engagementwith the grooves 9 such that the first and second elements 2, 3 arecompletely enclosed by the grooves 9.

The person skilled in the art realizes that the present invention by nomeans is limited to the preferred embodiments described above. On thecontrary, many modifications and variations are possible within thescope of the appended claims.

1. A joining system comprising a locking device (1) and a first element(2) and a second element (3) to be joined by said locking device (1),said locking device (1) comprising a first end section (4), a centresection (5), and a second end section (6) said first and second endsections (4, 6) extending in opposite directions from said centresection (5), at least one surface (7) of each of said first and secondend sections (4, 6) being provided with at least one barb (8), said barb(8) being angled in a direction towards said centre section (5), saidfirst and second elements (2, 3) each being provided with a groove (9),said locking device (1) being completely enclosed by said grooves (9)when said first and second elements (2, 3) are joined by said lockingdevice (1).
 2. A joining system according to claim 1, wherein saidgroove (9) comprises at least one surface (10) provided with at leastone angled recess (14) adapted for locking engagement with said barbs(8).
 3. A joining system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said lockingdevice (1) substantially has a shape of a right parallelepiped.
 4. Ajoining system according to any of claims 1-3, wherein said groove (9)is contained within a separate strip (11) provided in a slot (12) insaid element (2, 3).
 5. A joining system according to claim 4, whereinsaid strip (11) and/or locking device (1) is made of plastic, metal,wood, or wood based material.
 6. A joining system according to any ofthe previous claims, wherein said centre section (5) comprises aprotrusion (13) which extends in a direction perpendicular to saidsurface (7).
 7. A joining system according to claim 6, wherein saidprotrusion (13) is shaped as a ridge, said ridge comprising two straightsurface portions extending at an angle away from the surface of saidcentre section (5) and towards each other such that they have a commonpeak at the very centre of said locking device (1).
 8. A joining systemaccording to any of the previous claims, wherein a plurality of lockingdevices (1) is arranged spaced apart from one another along a ribbon. 9.A joining system according to any of the previous claims, wherein saidfirst and second elements (2, 3) are floor boards.
 10. A joining systemaccording to claim 9, wherein said groove (9) is provided along aperipheral edge (15) of said floor boards (2, 3).
 11. A joining systemaccording to claim 9, wherein said slot (12) is provided along aperipheral edge (15) of said floor boards (2, 3).
 12. A joining systemaccording to claim 10 or 11, wherein the configuration of saidperipheral edges (15) is substantially the same for said floor boards(2, 3).
 13. A joining system according to claim 10 or 11, wherein saidgroove (9) and/or slot (12) is provided along all peripheral edges (15)of said floor boards. (2, 3)
 14. Method of joining a first and a secondelement (2, 3) using a locking device (1), comprising the steps of:fitting a first end section (4) of said locking device (1) into a groove(9) in said first element (2), and fitting a second end section (6) ofsaid locking device (1) into a groove (9) in said second element (3),where after said locking device (1) is in locking engagement with saidgrooves (9) such that said first and second elements (2, 3) arecompletely enclosed by said grooves (9).
 15. A floor comprising ajoining system according to any of claims 1-13.